Sound reproduction employing unity summation aperture loudspeakers

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems and methods for sound reproduction employing a unity summation aperture loudspeaker horn taking advantage of the frequency response of horn flare characteristics for positioning of audio drivers along the outer wall of the loudspeaker horn. The loudspeaker horn may be embodied as any of a variety of pyramid shapes which allows for sections for driver positioning in correlation with the frequency response of the horn. Positioning the driver sources along the sides of the horn and out of the way of the audio field facilitates at least two modes of operation including a transformation operation for acoustical impedance matching and a waveguide operation for directing the reproduced audio signals. The single horn, multi-driver approach provides highly coupled audio drivers to generate sound reproduction employing unity summation aperture loudspeakers.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A sound reproduction system for creating a unified sound source field from a plurality of signals, comprising: 
 a loudspeaker enclosure having multiply segmented portions according to the frequency response of the enclosure, comprising a throat and an aperture extending outwardly from the throat;    a loudspeaker driver coupled at the throat of the loudspeaker enclosure;    a pair of loudspeaker drivers operating in a signal range at a lower frequency from the throat of the enclosure coupled with the horn aperture for summation of audio signals generated by each of the respective loudspeaker sources; and    said loudspeaker drivers being positioned for coupling a plurality of frequency ranges into the single horn of the loudspeaker enclosure.    
     
     
         2 . A system as recited in  claim 1  comprising a plurality of throat ports for receiving loudspeaker drivers upon the horn surface of the loudspeaker enclosure.  
     
     
         3 . A system as recited in  claim 2  wherein said pair of loudspeaker drivers are coupled acoustically to the horn of the loudspeaker enclosure using the throat ports along the outer surface thereof.  
     
     
         4 . A system as recited in  claim 3  further comprising a second pair of loudspeaker drivers coupled to the horn of the loudspeaker enclosure and positioned outwardly and away from the throat of the horn for the introduction of a low frequency audio source, said loudspeaker driver, said first pair of loudspeaker drivers, and said second pair of loudspeaker drivers being acoustically coupled to the single horn of the loudspeaker enclosure for providing a unity summation of an audio sound field at the aperture of the loudspeaker enclosure.  
     
     
         5 . A system as recited in  claim 4  wherein the single horn of the loudspeaker enclosure is provided in the shape of a pyramid.  
     
     
         6 . A system as recited in  claim 5  wherein said pyramid-shaped horn is segmented to provide the throat input ports for the introduction of the plurality of signals along the pyramid sides.  
     
     
         7 . A system as recited in  claim 6  wherein said pyramid comprises four sides.  
     
     
         8 . A sound reproduction method for providing a unified sound source field from a plurality of signals, comprising: 
 multiply segmenting a loudspeaker enclosure into various portions of a horn according to the frequency response of the enclosure with the horn throat and aperture extending outwardly from the throat;    opening the flare of the horn of the loudspeaker enclosure to provide acoustic coupling in predetermined audio frequency ranges;    coupling loudspeakers providing audio signals to the horn of the loudspeaker enclosure in accordance with the frequency response of the horn; and    operating the acoustically coupled loudspeakers on the loudspeaker enclosure according to the respective frequency response for summation of the audio signals generated by each of the respective loudspeaker sources.    
     
     
         9 . A method as recited in  claim 8  positioning the loudspeaker drivers along the sides of the horn and out of the way of the audio fields of the other loudspeaker drivers.  
     
     
         10 . A method as recited in  claim 9  wherein said coupling step includes a transformation operation for acoustical impedance matching and a waveguide operation for directing the reproduced audio signals as a unity summation at the aperture of the loudspeaker enclosure.  
     
     
         11 . A method as recited in  claim 10  providing the loudspeaker enclosure as a four-sided pyramid for accepting loudspeaker driver pairs along opposing sides of the pyramid to introduce acoustic signals at the respective sections in the horn of the loudspeaker enclosure.